Well here we are with less than a month left in Spain. My official countdown on my iPod says 29 days. I have no clue what there is left to experience studying abroad in those 29 days, but I can't wait to find out. It's a chilly late Tuesday afternoon here in Seville right now. My apartment doesn't have central heating, so my toes are froze right now, but it's all good, because I've already overcome 1 cold. That's right, I got sick in Spain. No me gusta... 2 weekends ago, I developed a cold out of nowhere and was miserable for most of that weekend and early that week. Lying in bed all day with nothing to do but rest didn't really help with the HOMEsickness either, but I survived.

I caught up on my sleep through the week and was still healthy enough to travel to Madrid over the weekend for IC Reunion Numero Dos. What an AMAZING weekend. I took the night bus Friday morning at 1:00 a.m. from Seville and arrived in Madrid bright and early at 7:00 a.m. My friend Katie, one of the IC students studying in Madrid, along with Laura, another IC'er who arrived in Madrid before I did, were waiting for me at the bus stop so we didn't get lost finding our hostal. I had my first time in Spain using the metro. That was fun, to say the least, haha. We all stopped at a diner for a bit of breakfast. Cafe con leche (coffee with milk) y tostada (toast). Katie almost had a thief steal stuff out of her purse while we were sitting at the bar, but a waitress sniped him with her keen eyes. Fun times.

We arrived at the hostal and I decided to take a mid-day siesta since I didn't get much sleep on the all-night bus trip. I woke up around 2 and took a shower, only to find out the water didn't drain well and only allowed about 4 minutes of shower time before it would've flooded the bathroom. Vale... It got better the next few times. After that, I met up with all the girls (Eva, Katie, Laura, Michelle) and we went to see some sights. We had Bocadillos (sandwiches) from a restaurant called "El Museo del Jamón" (Museum of Ham). There were just legs and legs and legs and legs and LEGS of ham hanging EVERYwhere! (Pictures will be up soon.) After that we walked through the Plaza Mayor, where I snagged a sweet picture with a sweet movie character. Then we went to the Royal Palace and ate in one of the nearby parks while just chilling and reminiscing. After that, we went down into the park. It was funny, because before I had wondered for some odd reason if the palace's park would have peacocks. Sure enough, when we got down there, they were all over! It was beautiful too with all the leaves turning for fall. After that, we hiked up to an Egyptian monument at one of the higher points in Madrid, and we stayed there until the sun set. Then we took the metro back to the hostal to get ready for a fun night.

For dinner, Eva, Michelle, Laura and I went out on the town to have some Kebabs (not to be confused with Shishkebabs). They were delicious. The cook kept teasing Laura because she didn't order the "original" and then kept hitting on Eva. It was a fun little place. Katie then met up with us after picking up Daman, and we all headed back to the hostal. We were all pretty exhausted, so we stayed in that night and shared some drinks and some laughs until it was time to call it a night.

Day 2: Saturday morning, we visited the Senate building in Madrid, which was pretty cool. Inside there was a sweet gothic library that made me feel like I was at Hogwarts. At the end of the tour, we all received copies of the Spanish Constitution. Vale.

Next, we went to visit a Cathedral. I forgot to mention that Katie and I were tagging along with Laura and Daman's program director, Armando, the entire day, listening to him talk about the history of Madrid and such. He was cool. He looked like Coach Brooks and would keep switching from Spanish to very accented English. It was awesome.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the art museums. La Reina Sofía y El Prado to be exact. Wow. Wow. Wow. I can't even BEGIN to describe the artwork I got to see. Picasso. Dali. Velázquez. Goya... Wow. Wow. Wow.

That night, we the IC crew shared some more beverages and laughs before going out with Michelle's host sister and her amigas to a discoteca. Wow. I can't even begin to describe that night. All I can say is Grandma Rita, thank you for the money to buy those dancing shoes. Haha.

Sunday was a little more chill. We all went to the HUGE Madrid equivalent of Central Park...El Retiro. I got a sweet picture with an Elf statue on the top of what looked like an old prison cell haha. Mom...Dad...those early years of climbing onto the top of the toybox paid off for this picture haha. That night, we all went out to eat at VIPs, a Spanish restaurant that serves American food, so I STILL say that I have YET to eat at an American restaurant here! It was really really REALLY good to have a hamburger again though! After that, I said my goodbyes and headed for the bus station for another all-night trip back to Sevilla. Everybody will be travelling here in 3 weeks for the third and final IC reunion, and I already can't wait! Memories I will have for a lifetime. =)

¡Concierto del Piano!

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity of attending a free (gratis) piano concert. I told my sister today that I could have easily seen her dating the pianist too. I described him as a "better looking more mature Corey Matthews that plays the hell out of a piano" haha. His name is Luis Becerra Alonso. Here's a link to a song he played at the recital. (NOTE: The video is not from the recital I went to. Mine was a more intimate setting of maybe 50 people or less in a beautiful music building) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFZn3VuBS-4


He was amazing. Only 28 years old. He played pieces by Scarlatti, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Albéniz (video), and Liszt. After we all gave him a standing ovation, he came back out for an encore and played a beautiful piece that took me back to my childhood days of movie-watching with my sis. Here is a link to the song (not by Luis). For some of you old-school "Adventures of Milo and Otis" fans, you might recognize the piece (by Schumann). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiH_8DMBWwg

Home

3:00 p.m. el 2 de noviembre
How do I start to describe the perfectly sublime weekend I just had in Alicante, Spain? It's too surreal. I'll try my best. The setup: 6 IC students meeting up in a foreign country to feel a little more at home. 6 near strangers who united and ended up the best of friends... The pink sheets chained-door leopard furniture roommate who shared the same sentiments as me about our semester already. The new friend who has an extreme addiction to "The Office" as much as me. The birthday girl (nuff said). The old Spanish class buddy who I found out is a blast to hang out with and talk to. The "quiet" "innocent" little girlfriend of my old RA. And myself. 6 of us...together...just for a weekend. A weekend to forget our troubles and to remember how to have fun. A weekend to realize sometimes you have to travel thousands of miles from home to connect with the people that live a shout from each other on The Hilltop. A weekend to remember how to really share a GOOD laugh... 6 strangers...now 6 friends...forever. I didn't want to leave. I'm already excited for our next reunion. I have come to realize the bitter sweetness of homesickness since coming to Spain. We all SHOULD miss home every now and then. It tells us we're loved. It tells us somewhere out there, someone can't WAIT to see us again, and we can't WAIT to see them. I'll say this. If Illinois College didn't have anything else, it has one thing: AMAZING people! And if you don't think you have anything, you're wrong. You have love. Love to give. Love to receive. Maybe it's right next door. Maybe it's thousands of miles away. Either way, you'll find it. I did, and it's the sweetest thing. 6 unlikely friends...Thousands of miles from normal... Home. =)